Sand in my Shoes
by lolitachihiro
Summary: After a two week break Ryoma turnes back home. Only to realise he probably has made the biggest mistake of his life. Semi-AU. Thrill


**AN: Based on a song I listened in the train to university. I think it turned out a little bit sad, but nice altogether. BTW. It's semi-AU, in my opinion. Which means that they still play tennis, but they haven't actually met eachother previously. Ryoma is about 18-19 years old and Fuji about 20-21 years old. Enjoy! ^_^**

**Pairing: Thrill (implaind/wanted)**

**Sand in my shoes**

The taxi came to a stop in front of an apartment building. Behind the curtain of rain you could make out the enormous size of the complex. The driver of the said taxi looked in his mirror to see why his passenger wasn't moving out of the car. The reason was quickly found. The small teen had tugged his cap over his eyes and fallen asleep.

"Hey, you! Hey kid!", the driver shouted. "We've arrived at your destination. You need to get off here." With a grumbling sound the kid stirred awake. He muttered something under his breath, gave the driver some money and left the car. With his suitcase in one hand and his tennisbag slung over his shoulder he headed to the door. He saw no use in moving quickly, he would get drenched anyway. Inside he took the elevator to the fifth floor, where he opened the door to his own apartment.

Once inside he dropped his stuff in the hallway and left it there before he headed to the kitchen. From the fridge he grabbed a can of ponta and drank the juice in satisfaction. He might have had a good two week vacation, but he sure had missed this. He sat there at the kitchen a little longer, his mind drifting to the past two weeks.

His mother had told him numerous times to take a break from tennis and go on a vacation. Every time he had declined, told her it wasn't necessary, that he wasn't tired. That was until he had one day woken up and found himself in the hospital. Apparently he had collapsed the day before while training and when he didn't respond to them, they had taken him to the hospital. There he had to admit that he needed a break. That was probably also the reason why he hadn't complained when his mother picked his destination. Anything was fine with him, as long as it didn't have huge crowds of people. That's how he ended up on a secluded resort at the seaside. It had everything you could ask for. Peace and quiet. A sports complex, his own private beach and several good cafes, restaurants and clubs. He had decided that that was the perfect place to relax and focus his mind on the upcoming games and competitions.

He hadn't expected to meet someone that could give him the thrill he needed. The thrill he nowadays only got when he was matched against good players. Yet, on his second day there a person like that had checked in at the hotel where he was staying. He hadn't thought much about it at first, he didn't care for random strangers. But later that day he had seen him play a match with the wall on the courts.

He was captivated by what he saw. Although the boy didn't look very muscled, rather slim and seemingly fragile, he hid the balls back and forth with such a power and precision, that it wasn't very difficult to see that he had trained for quite some time.

Ryoma never was a person to judge people on the outside or admire their looks. But he had to admit to himself that this person was a side to behold. Soft honey-brown hair, pale skin and half open eyes. At some point he even caught himself staring openly. Lost in his thoughts he didn't notice that the person had stopped and looked at him.

"Can I help you?", he had asked. Ryoma, waken up from his little daydream, tried to hide his blush by pulling his cap over his eyes. "I noticed your good form and was wandering if you'd like to play a game with me?". He breathed out, he didn't stumble over his words and didn't make a fool of himself. Now he only hope this person could keep up with him in a real match.

"Sure, I'd love to. Let me take my stuff, then we'll go to another court." The guy turned around and walked away. Ryoma tried his best to stop his heart beating so fast. It wasn't like he actually liked the guy, right? It was just a friendly match, right?

When they arrived at an empty court and they each stood on their one side, Ryoma's opponent shouted something. "Please, do me a favor and don't go easy on me. I think I need a serious workout". Ryoma had found that statement quite amusing. This person clearly underestimated his talent. But he was in a good mood that very day, so he decided to humor the guy. 'When he sees me play, he will understand that what he's dealing with is a bit too much for him to handle. After all, nobody beats me in tennis'. Ryoma's thoughts were clear after that and only focused on the match before him.

Through tossing, it was decided that Ryoma would serve first and since he had promised he would not hold back he started straight off with his Twist Serve. The first one caught his opponent by surprise. The ball barely missed his face. For a split second Ryoma was frightened that he might have hurt him, but the guy then turned his unharmed face towards him, revealing mesmerizing, clear blue eyes. Ryoma was shocked to see them. They seemed to penetrate his very soul.

"That was a very impressive serve you've got there. A twist serve, am I correct? You certainly aren't an amateur. Good thing I'm not either". The guy had prepared himself for the next serve on the other side of the court. "You're right about the first. We'll see about the last one though", Ryoma shot back.

That's where the match really began. Balls were shot back and forth. Long rally's ensued, because neither of the two would give in to the other. They needed every move they had in their arsenal to counter the attacks from the other. Although the first set was for him, he lost the second on only serves. The guy's strange underhand disappearing serve was working on his nerves and he was breaking his head over how to break through it. Just when he thought he saw an opening, it was closed and sealed away by yet another counter attack.

Besides the games he played in competitions, he had played numerous friendly matches with players all over the continent. But never did he feel the need to go this far to reach his goal, victory.

They had played seven games. They were both panting already. The score was 4-3 in favor of his opponent. Clouds had started to gather above them. It had started to drizzle. People around them had called that they should stop, because it would be dangerous to go on in the rain, but they didn't hear them. At least they pretend they didn't hear them. All that mattered was the match and its final conclusion.

That was until a middle-aged women, the manager of the courts interfered and chased them quite literally off the courts, while shouting how irresponsible they were and that they could've gotten an injury while playing in those conditions.

Ryoma sighed when he remembered those moments. The thrill he had felt during that match was unexplainable. The guy had been good, he was of it. But why did he stood out along all the others? It couldn't have been the just that game. Because they never played after that day, they just never had the time for it.

Ryoma walked to the hallway, where he had dropped his bag. He stood there and stared at it. He didn't felt like unpacking his stuff yet. He didn't want to believe that he was back in his apartment. So instead of unpacking, he dragged it into his bedroom and dropped it at the end of his bed and left it there. After that he went back to retrieve his shoes. When he picked them up they felt heavy. When he looked inside, he saw a handful of sand in each shoe. Sand from the beach where he had walked at night when he couldn't sleep. It had been there that he met the other guy again and finally asked for his name.

Fuji Syusuke, the other had answered. The name had ring a bell by Ryoma. The guy was a pro amidst the amateurs. He didn't want to make a carrier in tennis, but he loved to humiliate his opponents in a seemingly easy way.

Every night after that they would meet up at the beach to talk about things that interested them both. But neither of them were willing to let go of much personal information. They hardly knew each other, though it felt like they had been close for a long time.

He took his shoes to the garbage bin and tossed the sand out. He had to let go of his own fantasies. It was a nice vacation, but that's all. He didn't really think he would be allowed to spent the rest of his days in a resort at the beach. After some thought, he concluded that he probably wouldn't last long there. Too much of the same things and no distractions.

He put them down beside his bad and walked over to the doors of the balcony. He opened them and let the fresh are wash over him. It was still raining outside, but he didn't really mind that. Apparently a lot of people didn't mind the rain that much, seeing all the traffic passing by underneath his window. Tokyo really was a city that never slept. At any time, be it day or night cars were making their way through the streets. He hadn't really missed this, the last two weeks. He probably could have lived without the noise it brought. It just reminded him of the fact that he was home again.

He turned around after closing the doors and headed for the bathroom. He let the water run in the bathtub. He would soak himself to the bone. He got in when the tub was nearly full and dived with his head under the surface of the water. The longer he was at home, more and more thoughts of Fuji came into his mind. He had tried to forget it, shake away the thought of him, but he couldn't. Somewhere in the back of his mind a small voice said that he didn't want to. He didn't want to forget the one person that turned his world upside down.

After half an hour, when his fingers had wrinkled already, he got out and dried himself of. He chose a pair of comfy pj's to wear and cleaned up the last bit of mess he had made in the kitchen. There were still some dirty dishes from weeks ago. From before he went away. He never really got the time to wash them properly.

He looked over his apartment once again. "I'm happy here. I only got happy memories here. Why would I change something like that for a life that probably won't even work". Ryoma rarely talked to himself, but this was a time that called for it. He was confused. Confused enough that he needed to tell himself that it was useless to chase after a guy he had just met, knew nothing about and was probably a 100% straight. He never thought that a two week holiday could do something like that to a person, but here he had the evidence. He was attracted to a complete stranger, which he had just met, but would never see again.

Ryoma let out a frustrated grunt and walked to his bedroom. It was time for him to go to sleep, tomorrow would be a busy day. A press conference to explain why he was off the radar for the last two weeks and a couple of interviews about some upcoming competition.

Right before he went to sleep, his mind drifted off again. At the end of his vacation he had to go and he said goodbye to Fuji. They knew, or at least, he knew that if they would try to maintain contact it would only lead to more complications. Everyone involved in his world of tennis was wondering when he finally got himself a girlfriend. Some suspected he already dated the granddaughter of one of the most famous coaches in the country. Yes, they were close, but they would never be that close. Getting Fuji involved in the matter would only stir up more questions. Questions he wanted to avoid, for the sake of both of them.

So in the end they did say goodbye and he had walked away, but he had never told the guy, this Fuji Syusuke, how much he wanted to see him again. To hold him and never let him go. Because those two weeks of vacation was all it took to change him and make him fall, head first, in love with him.

**AN: Pretty unsatisfying ending. But because of the song I couldn't make it any different. I was wondering; should I make sequel? See if, when they meet again the sparks will fly or not. **

**R&R**


End file.
